September 21st, 2017 through May 4th, 2018. You can join the Challenge and submit art at any time throughout the Challenge!

Who are the Facing Difference Challenge Partners?

CARE, Search for Common Ground, and Global Nomads Group are our partners for the Facing Difference Challenge.

CARE works in 94 countries around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty, and achieve social justice.

CARE is joining Students Rebuild as a Challenge partner for the second time; first partnering with us in 2013 for the One Million Bones Challenge. CARE is a global organization that has lead life changing programs for over 70 years.

Search for Common Ground works to end violent conflict before, during, and after a crisis. They work with all sides to transform destructive conflict into collaborative problem-solving and meaningful action.

Search for Common Ground has pioneered constructive ways to end violent conflict and enable cooperation in communities around the world for over 30 years. We are grateful to partner with them for the first time during the Facing Difference Challenge.

Global Nomads Group (GNG) fosters dialogue and understanding among the world's youth. By leveraging technology, GNG enables connections between middle and high school students to build a generation of global citizens who are empathetic, aware, and inspired to take action.

We are also grateful to be partnering for the 7th year with Global Nomads Group to help enrich the learning and connection between students throughout the Challenge. GNG will leverage innovative technology and story-telling to create resources (VR curriculum, videos, and lessons) and engagement opportunities (webcasts) to support student learning throughout the Challenge.

This year we are pleased to offer our most robust curriculum ever through our partnership with the Buck Institute for Education (BIE). BIE has developed two project based learning units that were informed by a selection of Students Rebuild teachers and written by their National Faculty uniquely for the Facing Difference Challenge.

What will the Facing Difference Challenge fund?

This year, students participating in the Facing Difference Challenge will support three great programs in Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the South Caucasus region. All the programs are working to help young people overcome conflict and tension related to difference and to build peace. Learn about the projects, run by CARE and Search for Common Ground, below.

Search for Common Ground supported project:

Nigeria: For the last decade in Nigeria’s Plateau State, violent clashes between Muslims and Christians have led to deep divisions and have claimed thousands of lives. The Naija Youth Unite project will bring together Christian and Muslim boys and girls from this region, training them in leadership and discovering non-violent alternatives to resolving conflict. The camps will foster camaraderie through fun activities and empower the youth to organize peace projects in their own communities, together. You can watch a video about this project here.

CARE supported projects:

Sri Lanka: After a 30-year civil war, there is a need in Sri Lanka to help youth from post-war communities move past the divisions that remain between different religious and ethnic groups. This Challenge will enable CARE to bring together boys and girls who are separated by ethnicity and geography to participate in the YOUth Create program where performing and visual arts are used to heal post-war divisions, promote diversity, and build understanding. You can watch a video about this project here.

South Caucasus: In the South Caucasus region of Eastern Europe, CARE is working to build understanding amongst youth that are living in communities with a long history of conflict and civil war. Through this Challenge, CARE will create community youth clubs and youth conferences where boys and girls from different ethnic backgrounds will have the opportunity to learn from one another and cross lines of division. Youth will also be able to receive small scale grants for peacebuilding initiatives in their neighborhoods.

Why is the Challenge “call to action” item a self-portrait?

Because it starts with you! The self-portrait is a reflection on one’s identity, perspectives, and self-perception. The artistic decisions made highlight an individual’s personality, aesthetic, and how they choose to represent themselves and the world around them. This project is an exercise in both looking inward, and looking at others. Join us in making portraits to support facing difference and building understanding and empathy.

Can we make portraits, keep them, and still have them count for the Facing Difference Challenge?

Yes! However, you still have to share your portraits with us for them to count towards the Facing Difference Challenge. While we love receiving your packages of art by mail—they allow us to see the creativity of our teams and to use the art towards a larger installation piece at the culmination of the Challenge—we recognize that there are times when submitting your portraits virtually is the best option. For example, if you live outside of the United States and the cost of international shipping is too expensive. Or perhaps you want to use your portraits for an art piece in your own community or school to continue to raise awareness. In those cases, please feel free to submit your portraits, and any culminating art pieces, digitally. You can find instructions on sending in digital portraits here.

How will making portraits provide funding for peacebuilding? Who provides the money?

Students Rebuild is a program of the Bezos Family Foundation. Our Challenges work by asking young people to learn, connect, and take action on critical global issues. Once they understand the Challenge topic, we ask youth to create symbolic objects which the Foundation matches with funding for a good cause. Not every young person has the means or opportunity to raise funds, so we ask them to show they care by creating symbols that express their care and concern. This approach allows young people of all backgrounds and in almost any country to take action on critical global issues.

For the Students Rebuild Facing Difference Challenge, we’re telling young people that “It starts with you.” And by creating self-portraits that reflect their unique identities, they will help build empathy, understanding, and peace around the world and in local communities. Each portrait submitted to Students Rebuild will be matched with a $3 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation—up to $600,000—to support peace-building programs in Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the South Caucasus region of Eastern Europe.

What happens to the portraits I mail in?

Once we receive your portraits, we’ll ensure they’re counted and each matched with $3—up to $600,000—for funding the CARE and Search for Common Ground programs that promote empathy building, understanding, and peace in Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the South Caucasus region. Both CARE and Search for Common Ground will deliver a selection of the portraits made to youth in those countries—stay tuned to our website for details!

At the end of the Challenge, we'll work with artists to incorporate the thousands of portraits we receive into a larger piece of art that will further raise awareness—and possibly more funding—to build empathy, understanding, and peace. Your team’s artwork will continue making an impact long after it leaves your team!

Can I buy some type of portrait to send in instead of making it?

Unfortunately, we cannot accept or match portraits with funding unless they are handmade. We require that students work with their hands on the “call to action” item because we wholeheartedly believe in the Carl Wilkens quote: “When you make something with your hands, it changes the way you feel, which changes the way you think, which changes the way you act.” We're hopeful that as Challenge participants work on their portraits, they will reflect about their own identity as agents of peace—locally in their community and around the world.

Can I make more than one portrait?

Yes! You can make as many self-portraits as you like!

Do group portraits count?

Each portrait made will count as one item matched with a $3 donation by the Bezos Family Foundation. You can have as many people as you like in each portrait!

The Facing Difference Challenge deadline is May 4, 2018. Please ensure your packages are postmarked by that day and that digital submissions are sent in by 11:59pm PST on May 4th, 2018.

How do I mail in portraits?

Go to www.studentsrebuild.org/submit. You will be asked to enter the email you registered your team with, the number of art pieces that your team created, and the number of youth that participated on your team. This information helps us make sure your submission gets attributed to the right team. This should take less than 1 minute!

After filling out your submission form, click to print a mailing slip that can be included in your package. If you don’t have access to a printer, write down the information on a piece of paper to include with your package.

Place the slip in the package and mail it postmarked by May 4th 2018:

Students Rebuild
2400 1st Ave South #336
Seattle, WA 98134

What if I live outside of the United States?

If you live outside of the United States and the cost of international shipping is too costly, please feel free to submit your portraits digitally!

Go to www.studentsrebuild.org/submit. You will be asked to enter the email you registered your team with, the number of art pieces that your team created, and the number of youth that participated on your team. This information helps us make sure your submission gets attributed to the right team. This should take less than 1 minute!

What if we have a limited budget? Do we still have to mail in our portraits?

We don’t want any team to avoid participating in Students Rebuild Challenges due to the costs of shipping. If financial constraints and / or mailing costs are preventing you from sending in your hands, please submit them digitally!

Go to www.studentsrebuild.org/submit. You will be asked to enter the email you registered your team with, the number of art pieces that your team created, and the number of youth that participated on your team. This information helps us make sure your submission gets attributed to the right team. This should take less than 1 minute!